


the one where they play Mario Kart

by quarantine_writer



Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: F/M, I kept daydreaming about this when I went to bed so I just wrote it, Sharing a Bed, but I didn't know what to call this, established jiara, literally just fluff, self-indulgent fic, they play Mario kart for a hot second
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29766912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quarantine_writer/pseuds/quarantine_writer
Summary: After a long day at The Wreck, Kiara just wants to relax, but when she gets to the Chateau she finds the boys have other plans.
Relationships: JJ & Kiara & Pope & John B. Routledge, JJ & Kiara (Outer Banks), JJ/Kiara (Outer Banks)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 42





	the one where they play Mario Kart

**Author's Note:**

> So this is pure fluff, not sorry about it.
> 
> Much established relationship feels, because I had to oops.
> 
> Also Pope 100% chooses a car over a bike in Mario kart, I don't make the rules.

It was a fairly lowkey night at the Chateau for the four pogues, filled with only some light drinking and of course: Mario Kart.

Ever since Kiara had found the old Wii console in a yard sale on Figure Eight, along with a few other games, including Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, and much to her disgust, Wii Fit, it had become somewhat of a staple in the boy’s night time shenanigans.

When she first brought it round to the Chateau, pleased with herself for making such a great find, JJ, John B and Pope had looked on at it in some dismay, wishing it were an Xbox or some other more up to date piece of technology.

“Does it even work?” JJ had asked, eyeing it suspiciously, to which Kiara had just scoffed, said “of course it works, dumbass, I wouldn’t have bought it without checking,” and then prayed to God that it did work because she had in fact bought it without checking.

Luckily it worked just fine, and she put in one of the games to show the boys how cool it was, but none of them caught their attention quite like Mario Kart. As soon as John B had picked up the game, declared it awesome and showed JJ and Pope, they had been won over by the Wii.

Kiara was happy she could bring something like this to the Chateau, knowing the boys had never had many of the same material things she’d had growing up, and watched as they enthusiastically started up the game, JJ giving Kiara a quick kiss on the cheek before settling onto the pull out next to the other boys.

If Kiara had known they would become as competitive or obsessed over it has they have, she might have thought twice about bringing the console round.

Which brings us to tonight. Kiara had worked a long shift at The Wreck all day and was looking forward to some time to unwind with her favourite boys, so you could say she’s a little annoyed to open the door of the Chateau to find said boys crowded round the tv hurling insults at one another, controllers in hand.

They barely acknowledge her as she steps though the porch door into the living room, JJ briefly looking up and grinning when he sees her, before training his eyes back on the tv where an intense level of Mario Kart is being played.

Even after nearly a year of dating, that smile never fails to fill her stomach with butterflies.

She had brought over leftover food from The Wreck for dinner, knowing that none of the boys would have had the forethought or the skill to cook anything. She walks straight through to the kitchen, holding up the takeout bags to show them as she passes, which receives a cheer from John B, and puts the bags in the fridge.

Before she can eat, she needs to have a shower to try and scrub away the lingering smell of frying oil that always seems to stick to her after a shift.

Going back into the living room she sees the race has finished, and moves to sit next to JJ on the pull out, who is watching Pope and John B argue over the merits of bikes or cars (“you can’t do a wheelie in a car”, seems to be John B’s only line of argument), resting her chin on his shoulder.

“Hey,” he murmured into her hair pressing a kiss there, “you ok? How was work?”

He wrinkled his nose, pulling away slightly, and added “you smell like fries”, with a laugh. She smiles up at him, rolling her eyes and says quietly, “I know, I’m going to go have a shower. Work was ok, busy.”

He pouts and she leans in to kiss it away, “I’ll be quick, promise. Or you could join me?”, she whispers, raising an eyebrow.

JJ looks conflicted, but ultimately the decision is made when Pope asks, “JJ- bikes or cars? We’re starting the next round. Kie, you want in?”

“Turbo blooper every single time bro,” JJ replies without hesitation. Pope looks aghast at this suggestion, and John B looks like he’s going to argue, but before he can respond Kiara cuts in and says, “no you go ahead, I’m going for a shower,” and stands from the couch, ruffling JJ’s hair.

“Food’s in the fridge,” she calls over her shoulder as she makes her way to the bathroom, smiling to herself at her boys’ antics.

Kiara feels significantly less like the inside of a fryer after her shower, and pads into JJ’s room to get dressed. She picks up a pair of sleep shorts from the floor that she’d forgotten the previous night, and one of JJ’s ratty Pelican Marina t-shirts that smells clean enough, from the dresser.

Those were her favourite tops of his, soft and faded from too many washes, and smelling the most strongly of JJ. She also throws on the hoodie lying discarded on the unmade bed, and then goes back out into the living room.

Someone had clearly succumbed to their hunger and gotten the food out of the fridge, as the table by the pull out was littered with takeout boxes and forks, and Kiara watches in awe as John B manages to shovel a whole handful of fries into his mouth without once taking his eyes off the tv.

“Babe! I came first on rainbow road!” JJ says as she comes back over to the couch, and tilts his chin towards her food on the table when he sees her searching for it.

“That is a lie! He came second, _I_ came first,” John B replies indignantly, before adding with a snicker, “Pope came twelfth, _and_ he got a bullet twice.”

“Should have gone for the turbo blooper Pope, it never fails,” JJ states sagely. Kiara just shakes her head and pretends to understand what they’re talking about.

Whilst, yes Kiara had played Mario Kart with her cousins occasionally when she was younger and enjoyed it, she never thought it could entertain three eighteen year old boys quite as much as has been proving to do so in the last few weeks.

She sits down with her food in her lap and watches idly while she eats, as the boys play another couple of rounds, thinking about her bed. Her shift really had been tiring, and she can’t wait to go to sleep.

After she finishes eating, she pulls her phone out of the hoodie pocket, and texts Sarah, who’d had to stay home with Wheezie tonight.

JJ had moved to lean against the back of the couch, and Kiara crawls over to sit on his legs. He grunts, looking round her at the screen, and moves to allow her to lie between his legs, head on his stomach. His arms come around her, resting his hands with the controller in them on her ribs, and she hums contentedly.

He leans down to press a brief kiss to her forehead, and she closes her eyes and just listens to the sounds of the game and the boys’ commentary whilst she relaxes against JJ.

After a while, when she’s still not managed to doze off, she clicks her phone back on to see Sarah’s response and then scrolls through Instagram for a bit.

In between races, JJ’s fingers play with her hair that has mostly dried from her shower, and she rolls over onto her stomach, still between his legs. She rests her chin on his stomach and gazes up at his face. It’s been a long time since any bruises or cuts had graced it, and for that Kiara is thankful.

He glances down at her, quirking an eyebrow when he sees her staring, but she just smiles up at him. She could honestly look at him all day, creepiness be damned.

He leans down to her and whispers, “you know, some people consider it rude to stare, Kie,” a smirk on his lips.

She hums and says, “huh, guess I’m rude then,” and continues to look up him.

JJ just rolls his eyes with a grin, pats her head like a dog and moves his eyes back to the tv. Kiara scoffs, and exclaims, “I know you did not just _pat_ my head.”

“Hmm, and what if I did?” JJ challenges, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

Kiara bites her lip to suppress her smile, not wanting JJ to know the effect he’s having on her. She opens her mouth to respond, when Pope cuts in and says, sounding pained, “ _please_ for the love of God, stop flirting! We are right here. Like, as in less than two feet from you. In perfect earshot.”

“Wow Pope, didn’t know you felt that way. Would you rather we took it to the bedroom, where you would also hear everything?” JJ says with a shit eating grin.

Kiara looks up at him in horror and sits up on his lap to slap his arm. Pope wears much the same expression, with a touch more genuine disgust.

“ _JJ!_ ” Kiara hisses, sending him her best glare. Why JJ felt the need to talk about their sex life to John B and Pope was beyond her, but looking at John B’s largely indifferent face, she wonders if this isn’t as uncommon as she would have hoped.

“Kie, what? I’m kidding!” JJ laughs, which does little to set her at ease, but she decides to let it go, and just huffs and says, “just play your game, JJ.”

JJ apparently will not let it go as easily. Says, “Kie, baby I really was joking, are you actually mad?” and looks up her with the softest expression on his face.

She shakes her head no, and leans down to kiss him on the cheek. She whispers, “it’s fine baby, I promise.”

He looks at her for another second, before kissing her quickly on the lips, so as to not garner any more complaints from the others.

“Okay,” he murmurs against her lips, before pulling away. Kiara slips down to lie between his legs again, and rests her cheek against his thigh, watching as the boys start another race, interruption forgotten.

—

JJ wakes her up some time later by gently shaking her shoulder with one hand and stroking her cheek with the other. He wishes he didn’t have to, but there’s no way he could get her off the pull out and into his bed without her waking up.

“What?” Kiara mumbles, rubbing at her eyes.

JJ smiles at her adoringly and says, “we gotta move, Pope needs to sleep here.”

“Hmm? Have you finished playing?” she asks, still disoriented from her nap. “What’s the time?”

“Mhmm, it’s almost one.”

“Can you carry me?” Kiara asks, and gives JJ her prettiest smile, but JJ just laughs and shakes his head.

“Kie, I’m pretty sure you can walk yourself. Anyway, you’re awake now so there’s no point in me carrying you.”

“No, I’m not!” Kiara insists petulantly, and lays her head back down, closing her eyes and pretending to be asleep. JJ laughs and wishes he had a camera to document how adorable she looks, hair rumpled from her nap, cheeks slightly flushed and lips pouty.

“Okay, well I’m going to go to bed, you can sleep here with Pope if you really want to,” JJ says with a glance at Pope who’s in the kitchen, making his nighttime green tea, because he claims it helps with digestion or some shit, but JJ just thinks it tastes like ass.

“Fine, I’m getting up,” Kiara declares, and then proceeds to close her eyes again. JJ waits for several moments, before asking, “are you like dreaming that you’re getting up, or are you just lying again?” with a smirk.

Kiara’s eyes shoot open and she says, “I am not a liar!”, incensed, and his teasing seems to have done the trick as she moves to sit up on the edge of the couch and stretches her arms above her head. JJ watches as his hoodie, that she’s claimed as her own, rises up and reveals a stretch of the smooth skin of her lower back above the waistband of her shorts.

Kiara turns her head and catches him staring. She grins, and says, “pervert,” before standing and making her way to the kitchen.

JJ wishes he wasn’t so tired, but he’ll just have to wait till tomorrow before he can do anything about that.

He follows his girlfriend into the kitchen, and hears her asking Pope where John B went.

“Sarah called, he’s in his room,” Pope replies before taking a sip of his disgusting tea, only to spit it back out as he yells.

“ _Shit!_ Oh my God that’s hot,” and then looks mournfully down at his drink.

“You do that every single time Pope,” JJ deadpans, “do you think you’ll ever maybe, I don’t know, wait for it to cool down before you drink it?”

This earns a laugh from Kiara, and he turns his head to see her beautiful smile.

He still has trouble believing that someone as good as Kiara could even give him the time of day, much less actually love him and want to be with him. Making her laugh never fails to give him butterflies, and he tries to do it at any given opportunity.

Pope flips him off, before sulking over to the pull out cradling his drink.

Kiara has started making her own tea, and JJ stands behind her and wraps his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“Mmmm, can’t we just go to sleep, you never actually drink the tea you take to bed,” JJ mumbled, pressing his face into her neck and inhaling the smell of her peach-scented hair.

Kiara turns her head to look at him and says, “I will drink this whole thing.”

“That really wasn’t a challenge, Kie,” he replies, just wanting to crawl into bed, pull her into his arms and go to sleep.

But alas, sleep would wait, as Kiara finished making her tea, and began to slowly drink it.

“I take it back, I believe you,” JJ mutters, and waits until the mug is empty before tugging her towards his bedroom, barely giving her time to put it in the sink.

They pass Pope, who is still attempting to drink his scalding tea, wish him good night, and finally, blessedly make it to his room.

JJ immediately throws himself face down on the bed and Kiara laughs from behind him. He rolls over to see her removing his hoodie, only to reveal his shirt underneath.

He smirks and says, “Ooh, are you going for the full JJ chic today?”

“Thought I’d mix it up from the JJ casual of yesterday,” Kiara replies sagely.

JJ shakes his head and makes grabby hands towards her, says “come here.”

She laughs and pulls the covers back and slips underneath them, sinking into the pillows. “You have to get changed Jay,” she says before he can fall asleep as he is.

He turns his head to look at her, cheek pressed to the duvet, and says, “you asking for a show?” with a lazy grin.

“I mean I wasn’t, but feel free,” Kiara replies, motioning for him to go ahead.

“Hmm, I’m tired right now, but tomorrow you can get all the shows you want baby,” JJ says with a wink.

Kiara snorts and says, “JJ just get changed,” clearly done with the jokes and actually wanting to go to sleep.

“Okay, okay, don’t get your panties in a twist,” he responds, standing up. He sees her watching him as he removes his shorts and t-shirt, before getting in beside her in just his boxers.

“Well for an unofficial show, I’d give you a solid 8/10,” Kiara whispers as she turns on her side to look at him.

“Only an 8? That’s harsh Kie,” JJ jokes, mirroring her position.

“You just dropped to a 5.”

He gasps, says “for what?”

“Arrogance. They say arrogance is next to evilness, you know.”

“Pretty sure that’s not right but okay Kie, whatever you say,” JJ replies around a yawn. He stretches his arm out and pushes it under her neck, wraps it around her shoulders to pull her towards him. She rolls over and rests her cheek on his chest, arm slung over his stomach, legs tangled together, before pressing a kiss to his chest.

He reaches his other hand over his stomach to rest on her waist, and slides it up and down her side a few times, stroking the top of her thigh, and kisses the top of her head.

“Night Kie,” he whispers.

“Night baby, I love you,” she replies and his heart soars in his chest.

He’ll never get tired of hearing those three little words.

“Love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! let me know your thoughts, and anything else you'd like to see from me! also go and read my other fic if you've not already please and thanks :)


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